Toopie Stroke Update

We haven't mentioned Toopie for a while, and we sure don't want people worrying about the little guy.  The top photo is Toopie last summer, after we had him shaped up and adjusted to his new home.

He had a stroke on December 1 that paralyzed him, and we thought he was a goner, but our vet pulled him through, and sent him home to us with some easy exercises to use for physical therapy.  A month after his stroke, he was almost walking.  A month after that he was trotting, and now he can run with the big dogs, although his balance and coordination let him take a tumble once in a while.

Toopie has never seen an Occupational Therapist, and the closest he comes to Occupational Therapy is when we tempt him with treats.  However, we judge that his occupational skill recovery is nearly 100%; quite a bit better than his physical recovery.  To date, he has regained the skills of opening kitchen cabinets, bags of flour, packages of almonds, and cocoa mix, plus jumping onto sofas and into vehicles.  The little guy is a joy.

Ruger Introduces Us To Biathlon!

We never know what Ruger will post next. I have never been on cross country skis, but I know that I wouldn't be hitting bullseyes very well after a workout like that. I wonder how the e-Postal shooters would do if we required a hearty workout on a Nordic Track machine right before shooting.

Vertical Single Cylinder Deutz Stationary Engine

Let's hop across the pond today and look at one of Bidone1967's gas engine videos. I can't translate Bidone's comments, but it is safe to say that this upside-down beauty was built long, long ago, before sparkplugs were around. Hot-Tube ingition has always fascinated me, and I would love to know the history of this engine, and how it survived through all the upheaval of the Twentieth Century in Germany.



Bidone's comments: "Deutz vertikaler Gasmotor - Stationary Gas Engine
From: Bidone1967 | Feb 24, 2011 | 529 views

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Beim Stationärmotorentreffen in Unterwellenborn waren 2010 sehr viele und teils sehr alte Standmotoren zu sehen.

In diesem Film zeige ich einen vertikalen Deutz Einzylinder Standmotor.

Dieser Film ist ein Ausschnitt aus meiner DVD "Stationärmotorentreffen Unterwellenborn". "

Another Monday Already

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola

A real tough customer, posted by Pax41.

Weekend Steam: The Swap

Georgetown Loop RR Engine Number 12, a 2-6-2, is the engine coming to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa as the exchange for MCRR's Number 9 Shay locomotive. Start planning now for your trip to Iowa on Labor Day weekend. This year you can take pictures of a "new" engine!

Crankin' It Up

Carl Fenton's Orchestra recorded this dance record on April 16, 1925. Billy Jones and Ernest Hare perform the vocals.

The 2011 e-Postals Have Begun!

Mr. Completely has posted the first of his famous e-Postal matches for this year, and it's a Duzy!  You will need to click over to Mr. C to study the rules and see if you can figure out how to shoot this target, which is described thusly: "None of those boring old concentric circles for us, by golly!"  The target is laid out so you may touch three different scoring areas with the same shot, but some areas have negative points, which, I think will level the playing field for those of us who are not expert pistol shooters.

A link is on Mr. Completely's post to take you to the pdf download.  Print out several targets and make this a family range outing.  More shooting is more better!

What Have We Here?

This old snapshot was probably taken somwhere in SE Iowa, 1920-ish.  The reason it is posted here is because there is a one-lung gas engine with a chain driven pump attached, which may have been used to pump water out of this construction project.  Any gas engine expert out there is invited to comment and let us all know what the brand name of this engine is; and if anyone knows what these guys are doing on this construction project, I would sure like to hear your ideas.

And There I Was, Without A Chainsaw!

 We visited the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis over the weekend, and this high stump was obviously left there just to taunt old True Blue Sam.  It's the butt end of a ginkgo tree, and it would have made a nice chunk of wood to take home for the collection, and I didn't have a single chainsaw with me.  It just goes to show you, that you should always be properly armed.

I am sure that the Missouri Botanical Gardens has many people on their staff who know lots of intricate details about growing trees, but I am a bit bothered that their cutter does not know how to drop a tree properly.  This tree was severed from the stump while standing, leaving no hinge to guide it in the right direction.  If you are thinking about dropping a tree, and you haven't had instruction in falling methods, go down the left side of this page and read the posts under "Drop That Tree Where You Want It."